Posts Tagged ‘E28

Ahh car shows: Roadtrips, friends, camping, beers and BBQ and in this country…rain. Pretty standard stuff and a couple of weeks back we hit the first big one of our Summer (well, Spring): Castle Retro Show. In its second year now it’s gotten even bigger, which is a very good thing. Held in the grounds of Caldicot Castle it’s the perfect spot for a get together with old friends from Uni (in Swansea) and the old regulars still in the Midlands. Here’s a few snaps of how it played out…

I even won a trophy for having one of the “top 10” cars with the E28…bit of a suprise as there were some really cool cars there and the Beemer is just my daily!

Honorable mentions needs to go to Ryan for making in his MK1: The car was still in bits in the week up to the show but made it with fresh paint and new wheels: Nice one dude!

Considering this car is 27 years old and I’m dailying it, I’m struggling to see the “running a classic car” compromise: It’s economical (we’re up to 36.9mpg after a service and plug/ lead change), comfortable, practical, will cruise at 85mph in pin-drop silence and (with no fear of jinxing it) is totally reliable. I actually nearly sold this thing before I’d even started building it….then I nearly sold it again when I’d finished it…I’m just glad I stuck with it; this is literally the best “old” daily I’ve ever had! The only problem is now I’m looking at even older BMWs thinking they will be as good; 2002 anyone? Don’t encourage me…

Luckily success isn’t measured in CCs or number of cylinders, because if it was I’d look junior management at best. You see, being a 518i she ain’t fast, but she is frugal (over 36mpg so far). That said frugality isn’t sexy; Low ride heights and split rims BBS wheels are though, so get a load of this:

Maybe I tool the whole “luxury of not having to build it while driving it” thing too far, as messing about with the old land shark has taken far longer than I ever anticipated. Not because there was more than I was expecting to do, just having the time proved more challenging that I first thought…that and some snow, which made one weekend particularly unpleasant. Anyway, I’ve done loads and taken pretty much no pics, but the following (start singing the Team America montage song now) montage covers most of what went on, though not strictly in any order anything like any sequence of events:

You kinda get the gist…Apart from the above, it got waxoiled, new floors, OEM mats (flash I know!), new rear bumper, engine detail, service, too much money spent on it, new front suspension arms and bushes, spacers & spiggot rings, stripped, cleaned and painted the brakes, new plates and the moon on a stick. …you know how these things go….

This car has come a long way baby and I’ve got way more hours in it than I ever intended; Projects will do that to you, you know. I’ll update properly as soon as I get chance, but from the teaser above you can see she’s almost there now…almost.